116 THE BALIZE. [CHAP. XXTX. 



annual floods. While a gain of land is thus taking place on one 

 side, the river is cutting into and undermining the opposite bank, 

 often at the rate of ten feet or more in a year. The most com 

 mon willow is Salix nigra, but Dr. Carpenter tells me there is 

 a rarer species (Salix longifolia) intermixed. I inquired how it 

 happened that none of these trees were old, although some part 

 of the banks on which they grew are known to be of considerable 

 antiquity. My companion said, &quot; that in marshy places the 

 Salix nigra is not a long-lived tree, rarely lasting more than 

 twenty-five or thirty years.&quot; 



At length, as we approached the Balize, even these willows 

 ceased to adorn the margin of the river, which was then simply 

 bounded by mounds of bare sand. Balize means beacon in 

 Spanish. It appears that, in 1744, the main passage or en 

 trance of the river was at three small islands, which then existed 

 where this pilot station now stands. It continued to be the 

 principal mouth of the Mississippi for about a quarter of a cen 

 tury later. The present village, called the Balize, has a popu 

 lation of more than 450 souls, among whom there are fifty reg 

 ularly appointed pilots, and many more who are aspirants to that 

 office. The houses are built on piles driven into the mud-banks, 

 and the greater part of them moored, like ships, to strong anchors, 

 whenever a hurricane is apprehended. They have no fear of the 

 river, which scarcely rises six inches during its greatest floods ; 

 but some winds make the Gulf rise six feet, as in the year 1812, 

 and so fast has been the increase of the population of late, that 

 there are scarcely boats enough, as one of the pilots confessed to 

 me, to save the people, should the waters rise again to that ele 

 vation. They might, however, escape on drift timber, which 

 abounds here, provided they had time to choose the more buoy 

 ant trees ; for we observed many large rafts of wood so water 

 logged that it could scarcely swim, and the slightest weight 

 would sink it. 



Although the chimney of our steamer was not lofty, it stood 

 higher than the houses ; but in order to obtain a wider prospect, 

 I went up into the look-out, a wooden frame-work with a plat 

 form, where the pilots were watching for vessels, with their 



